From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
The mother of Melody Hoffman spoke yesterday in court about her daughter, who was killed in February of last year. Megan Hoffman spoke at the trial for Dakota Van Patten, who is charged with first degree murder in Melody’s death. Three people found Hoffman’s body at Lily Lake in Amana with slashes and stab wounds to her back. Hoffman explained that Melody had a quote “mild intellectual disability” and was overly trusting. One man, McKinley Louisma, is currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder. If Van Patten is also found guilty of first degree murder, the mandatory sentence is life in prison.
A former U.S. Republican representative from Iowa is looking to make his way back to Washington, D.C. Rob Blum says he’s running for Iowa’s Second Congressional District. Blum served in congress from 2015 to 2019 before losing his bid for re-election. In his announcement yesterday, Blum says serving Iowans was an honor. Right now, Iowa’s second congressional district seat is held by Ashley Hinson, who is running for U.S. Senate.
Abbe Center for Community Mental Health in Cedar Rapids is set to start serving patients in a new space on Monday. The center started its big move this week from the city’s northwest side to the MedQuarter downtown at 615 Fifth Street, where Stamats was once located. The Abbe Center says the move will help make mental health care more accessible to clients and will strengthen its connection to the community. Its executive director says the move will also allow all of the center’s staff to work in the same building.
Four men have been sentenced to federal prison for running a scam out of a Georgia state prison and targeting people in several states, including Iowa. Prosecutors say someone used a drone to fly over the prison and drop cell phones for inmates use to carry out the scam calls. They would pose as officers and tell victims there was a warrant for their arrest. And that they need to pay a cash bond to avoid arrest. This happened between March 2022 and April of last year. One of the men charged is getting an extra 11 years in prison. Others are getting shorter terms.
